Remember being at school and the prettiest girl in my year at school learnt to play this on the recorder. She was playing this in the playground on a lovely warm and sunny summers day. I ended up marrying her, she died 4 years ago from Cancer. I still miss her even today.
Captpicard I was just here reminding myself of the theme tune I'm so sorry to hear about your wife. You have painted a beautiful picture I hope you are comforted by beautiful memories. 🦋
Oh my Word, this is taking me back to the 1970s where the WOMEN dressed 👗 like women and no TATTOOS. Glorious Decade the 70s! I was soon to take my Finals before joining the NHS . THANKS for sharing 👍 😊 🇬🇧
I was born in 1970 and obviously don't remember Van Der Valk until a decade later, when at senior school I learnt the Eye Level tune. Key of Eb major- I have perfect pitch and a very good memory for tunes!
I drove a truck all over Europe for eight years,sweden to Portugal. The best weekends i had were in Amsterdam. I used to deliver to a company in Weesp. Amsterdam centraal was the second stop. Ive stayed in Amsterdam on a Thursday night in the truck,got home and back on Saturday from Manchester airport. The theme from Van der Valk in my head all the time. A brilliant piece of composing that was spot on for thr series. The other thing are the Hollanders,what a fantastic race, and a great sense of humour. A few years ago Jack Tromby the composer of the theme appeared on Bargain Hunt from Oswestry showground. The theme is on my favorite playlist.
I went to Amsterdam in the early 90s with my parents and it was because of this show that I recognised places - and hummed the hell out of that theme tune!
@James Donnelly I know what you mean! Invariably found myself whistling the Gerry Rafferty tune on trips taking me through the nexus that is Baker Street Underground Station.
Nostalgic 70s. Wonderful piece of music!! Been going round my brain. Had to look it up. Didn't really remember it was a theme from TV. Must have been past my bedtime 😁 I only remember it being nr 1 and (not to blow my own trumpet 😬) I can still 'sing/hum/whistle' it completely. Amazing!
aaaaaaaaaah.......so many memories watching this on TV as a kid....circa late 1970´s. You have to admit - this HAS to be one of the most memorable theme tunes of ANY TV program - ever!! I remember like it was yesterday. In fact, they even used to play in my junior school when the classes were leaving the main hall after morning assembly. Absolutely brilliant!!
Theme by Dutch composer Jan Stoeckart (aka Bromley or Julius Steffaro), It is based on an old Dutch song. Stoeckart also wrote famous Theme of Floris. Director Paul Verhoeven (Basic Instinct) and Rutger Hauer (Blade runner) started their career with Floris.
By Jan Stoeckart 1927 - 2017) a Dutch composer under the name Jack Trombey, it was from a DeWolf library disk, Simon Park had nothing to do with the original version, his band took the credits for the commercial release and on TOTP.
First time I heard this song it was on my birthday in December, 1973. I thought it was a new Christmas song and I was hooked on it from the start. I have, of course, learned that it is to a TV show out of England, and I enjoy the song now as I did then.
Went on a holiday to Amsterdam back in the l970's with my wife Jean. Nice place and nice people. Enjoyed the trams on the streets and there were a lot of people on bikes. Went into the Diamond museum but being a working drummer did not come out with anything! From Keith Jones retired pro drummer, Cornwall.
Amsterdam in 1970s looks beautiful in my eyes. And this music really represents the city's beauty and wealth...although it was not made by any Dutch people.
I was humming a tune today, and I couldn't place it. It wasn't until this early evening that I realized that it was the theme song to Van der Valk, so here i am. 😊 I haven't heard this theme since I was a kid, so it was amazing that it suddenly popped up today. 😊❤❤❤
Just bought the Full set series 1-5 on DVD I love amsterdam and would like to live there again in the future. The police station where he was based in the early series is now a coffeeshop
Quite possibly the best music ever written. I heard it a few times in the early 70s and recently again and it seems to be hardwired in my head. Billions of years from now as the cosmos collapses into one singularity these notes will surely still be detectable as a faint background echo.
Oh my mother, bless her heart, absolutely loved this show. I wish I could have recorded or bought them all for her. She died two years aagain and was always wanting to see them again.
@Jeff Davies Along with a number of 1950s, 60s and 70s shows, VdV is periodically repeated on Talking Pictures TV, a UK Freeview channel. Not all regions seem to receive it. I imagine it must be a comfort for people of a certain age to be able to relive the glory days of two or three national channels - and maybe to fondly remember time spent with departed friends and family, huddled together around the box as we used to do before giant screens, tellies in every room and on-demand streaming.
This was a big hit here in Canada...both the show AND the theme song...so much so that KLM airlines used as the music in their commercials as it was so strongly associated with The Netherlands.
I'm 36 years old. The opening song is incredibly catchy, I agree with the people's opinions before me. brilliant.a never seen the series which is a pity
A million cheers for those who post these golden nuggets and for RU-vid for having storage space to hold all of my childhood memories! Flashbacks. Priceless!
I love Barry foster as van der valk, I play my tambourine to the theme music,while in Amsterdam I saw the bridge and I cried because I was in van der valk country
The opening credits song from Van Der Valk use the elements of timbre, dynamics and articulation to effectively portray both the picturesque nature of Amsterdam and the themes of "drugs, sex and murder". The melody is introduced to the audience with the use of high woodwind instruments backed by the low brass playing softly behind them. The lively and light melody is representative of the setting of Amsterdam, a very lively and beautiful city. The low brass is also used to represent the darker parts of the beautiful city, the themes of criminal activities rampant throughout the show. This low brass builds throughout the piece before, in the final section, it carries the melody to a finish on the dominant of the scale at 1:09. The transition from the high woodwinds at the beginning through the upper brass at 0:33 then to the low brass at 0:54 reflect the disparity between the picturesque setting of Amsterdam and the criminal lowlife of the city. This contrast between the setting and the events is also accentuated by use of dynamics, timre and articulation that progressively get harsher throughout the piece. The piece begins at a mf dynamic in the woodwind section. This gradually crescendos over time as the upper brass and eventually the lower brass come in and carry the melody. These instruments while having harsher accented, detached articulation sounds are also played in much more aggressive manners with louder dynamics and move aggressive tonguing used to accentuate this. This is backed by the percussion which uses a timpani to bring out these darker lower notes towards the end but only uses bells at the start. The combined and seamless use of timbre, dynamics and articulation in opening credits adeptly portray the beautiful and serene setting of Amsterdam and the darker, criminal themes of Van Der Valk.
Thank you for that explanation and I'm sure your right but personally I love this tune for its sheer perfection and beautiful melody that lifts the spirits and echoes back to the time of my youth when we were much freer and everyone had hope of a brighter future These days I'm wishing I had lived a fast and short life as I have now discovered that the 21st century wasn't worth waiting for!
Even as young Dutch teenager this impressed me. Still when I hear this theme .. going back memory lane. A British tv-series , with British actors, playing in "my" Amsterdam...
I'm laughing at that comment Jonathan! Excellent, However a great tune, absolute classic that reminds me of Amsterdam everytime I hear it. One of the worlds great cities. Love it.
One of those tv shows from your childhood where you remember the brilliant theme tune but can't for the life of you remember one episode plot. I always thought Barry Foster looked like a much shorter Michael Caine
Since the show was virtually unknown in the US (PBS stations did show it, though), KLM used the tune in its commercials. The tagline was, "Come, have an Amsterdam good time!"
Remind me of my child hook when i was 15 years old, and my dad wants a ford taunus, or in the UK a ford cortina like the one van der valk was driven in, yes that was then
I've got the entire series and started watching the 1977-filmed episodes. So far, they've been very good with the standout being Enemy where VDV becomes the target of a revenge campaign (this one).
I remember being in high school in 1977 and the music teacher Mr Parfitt handing out a 30 minute detention because I couldn't play this tune on a glockenspiel. I couldn't memorise the notes and was punished for it. I'm autistic, so thank you Mr Parfitt.
That's one of my favourite theme tunes and my favourite tv show of the seventies the up to date version of van der Falk it's no where near like the original series and they changed the theme music to it.
Seeing this makes me really want to visit Amsterdam. It looked so interesting. Too bad it's not like this anymore. Also too bad KLM doesn't use this theme for their commercials anymore.
Once you've seen Alfred Hitchcock's "Frenzy" it's hard to get that image of Barry Forster out of your head! Still, he did a good job in this and in 1969's "The Battle of Britain".
Oh my God yes! I haven't seen Van Der Valk yet - was just reading about the remake and stumbled on this clip, so I wasn't sure who Foster was. Now that I see him up close I realize he was that unbelievably creepy killer from Frenzy. It will be very hard to get that out of my head and see him as another character.
@notsodutch The Van der Valk Dvd box set is out now. It has all the episodes including the last ones in the 90s A quick search on amazon has it for under £20
bought mine today 11 discs, Buts its now £44. new. I dont mind though, spent all my excursions in Holland From Eastbourne Pier head in the 70's using my one year valid British Visitors passport that cost around £6. I miss those days :
Is this the cheerful intro to a travelogue program? Oh, no, it's a gritty murder mystery, but this tune from a music library became it's theme and we love it anyway.
Actually, the car would be a Ford Taunus, seeing as to how the Cortina name was only used for the UK when Ford merged its European offerings from the late 1960s onwards.
